City of Costa Mesa
Legislative Matrix
Cal Cities Sponsored Legislation
AB 476 (Gonzalez, Mark), Copper Theft Support Requires junk dealers and recyclers to include additional information in the written record, including the time and amount paid for each sale or purchase of junk made, and the name of the employee handling the transaction. Requires ownership or the name of the person from whom the seller obtained the junk from to be signed.
Staff Comments: Costa Mesa has experienced increased copper thefts along Joann bikeway and other public and private facilities. Also, Newport Mesa Unified School District has experienced thefts in recent years. This bill will help law enforcement in their investigations.
SB 74 (Seyarto), Infrastructure Gap Fund Support Requires the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation to establish the Infrastructure Gap Fund Program to provide grants to local agencies to develop and construct infrastructure projects. Authorizes the office to provide funding for up to a specified percent of a project's total cost, subject to specified requirements, including, among other things, that the local agency provides funding that has been raised through local taxes for at least a specified percent of the infrastructure project's total cost.
Staff comments: Provides potential future grant opportunities for cities.
SB 346 (Durazo), Short-term rental facilitators Support Authorizes a local agency, defined to mean a city, county, or city and county, to enact an ordinance to require a short-term rental facilitator to report, in the form and manner prescribed by the local agency, the assessor parcel number of each short-term rental during the reporting period, as well as any additional information necessary to identify the property as may be required by the local agency.
Staff comments: Per Cal Cities, “This bill would require short-term rental hosting platforms to report info related to properties on their websites to cities and allow cities to audit transient occupancy taxes, ensuring your city receives the correct amount of TOT. If your city has banned short-term rentals, this bill will make it easier to enforce your ordinance.” SB 496 (Hurtado), ACF Regulations Support Requires the State Air Resources Board to establish the Advanced Clean Fleets Regulation Appeals Advisory Committee by an unspecified date for purposes of reviewing appeals of denied requests for exemptions from the requirements of the Advanced Clean Fleets Regulation.
Staff comments: Per Cal Cities, “SB 496 would help alleviate these cost pressures by establishing an appeals committee for local agencies to review denials for exemption requests. It would also update the emergency vehicle exemption, so that even when the power is out, your front-line workers and communities can still effectively respond to emergencies and disasters.” The ACF regulations went into effect in 2024, and the City has not experienced a problem with purchasing compliant vehicles. However, this bill will provide flexibility as staff continue planning for the full transition to clean vehicles. The clarification that emergency vehicles are exempt will ensure the City’s public safety fleet is not impacted in its primary mission of emergency response.
SB 569 (Blakespear), Caltrans and Encampments Support Cal Cities is a co-sponsor of this measure to ensure Caltrans coordinates with local governments to address and prevent homeless encampments located on state property. The bill requires Caltrans to establish a dedicated liaison to, among other things, facilitate communication with local governments and relevant state agencies in addressing homeless encampments within the state highway system and to oversee the development and implementation of delegated maintenance agreements between local agencies and the department in which both work together to reduce and remove homeless encampments within the department's jurisdiction.
Staff comments: The City has seen increased activity on state right of ways and has been conducting enforcement on its own. This bill will strengthen cooperation between the City and Caltrans.
ACCOC Sponsored Legislation
The following bills are part of ACCOC’s Sober Living Home Legislative Package that they recommend supporting. In their own support letter they state, “ACC-OC has long advocated for greater accountability and oversight for these facilities located within our communities. The lack of oversight, regulation, and licensing results in unsafe conditions for patients and has significant negative impacts on local neighbors.
Under Council Policy #8 the Mayor is authorized to execute position letters if the City’s legislative partners have taken a position. The following bills are still active as of May 12, 2025:
AB 424 (Davies), Alcohol and Other Drug Programs: Complaints Support Provides that when the Department of Health Care Services receives a complaint against a licensed alcohol or other drug recovery or treatment facility, or a complaint alleging that a facility is unlawfully operating without a license, from a member of the public, require the department to provide, within 30 days of the date of the complaint, notice to the person filing the complaint that the complaint has been received.
AB 425 (Davies), Certification of Alcohol and Other Programs Support Requires the Department of Health Care Services to adopt the American Society of Addiction Medicine treatment criteria, or an equivalent evidence-based standard, as the minimum standard of care for alcohol or other drug programs certified by the department. The bill would also require certified programs to maintain those standards with respect to the level of care provided by the certified program.
AB 492 (Valencia), Alcohol and Drug Programs: Licensing Support Requires the Department of Health Care Services, whenever it issues a license to operate an alcohol or other drug recovery or treatment facility, to concurrently provide written notification of the issuance of the license to the city or county in which the facility is located. Requires the notice to include the name and mailing address of the licensee and the location of the facility.
SB 329 (Blakespear), Alcohol and Drug Recovery or Treatment Facilities Support Requires the State Department of Health Care Services to assign a complaint regarding an alcohol or other drug recovery or treatment facility to an analyst for investigation within 10 days of receiving the complaint. Requires the department to complete an investigation into a complaint regarding a facility within 60 days of receiving the complaint.
Community & Local Organizations Requests
During the Legislative Review Team meeting on March 19, 2025, the request was made that staff identify issues of concern specifically to Costa Mesa. The following bills have been identified by the Costa Mesa Alliance for Better Streets for support and are listed below with positions recommended by staff:
AB 382 (Berman), School Zone Speed Limits Support Authorizes until January 1, 2029, a local authority, by ordinance or resolution, to determine and declare a prima facie speed limit of 20 miles per hour in a school zone. Beginning on January 1, 2029, this bill establishes statewide a prima facie speed limit of 20 miles per hour in a school zone, as defined, subject to specified conditions, including, among others, when a school speed limit sign states, "children are present" and children are present, as defined, and when a school speed limit sign states specific hours, as specified.
AB 981 (Gipson), Active Intelligent Speed Assist Devices Support Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to establish, until January 1, 2033, a pilot program in the Counties of Los Angeles, San Diego, Fresno, Sacramento, and Kern imposing an intelligent speed assist device for persons convicted of specified driving offenses relating to excessive speed, reckless driving, and exhibitions of speed. The bill would similarly make the installation of an ISA discretionary for a first offender, as specified.
Staff comments: The bill does not apply to the City of Costa Mesa in its current form, but if successful the pilot program may be extended to other jurisdictions.
AB 1085 (Stefani), License Plate Obstruction Support Prohibits a person from installing or affixing a shade or tint that obstructs the reading or recognition of a license plate by an electronic device operated by state or local law enforcement, an electronic device operated in connection with a toll road, high-occupancy toll lane, toll bridge, or other toll facility, or a remote emission sensing device, as specified. The bill would further prohibit the manufacture of these products and devices in the state and impose a $2,500 fine per item sold or manufactured for a violation of these provisions SB 79 (Wiener), Public Transit Housing Neutral Require that a housing development project, as defined, proposed within a specified distance of a transit-oriented development (TOD) stop, as defined, be allowed use on any site zoned for residential, mixed, commercial, or light industrial development, if the development complies with applicable requirements. The bill establishes requirements concerning height limits, density, and floor area ratio in accordance with a development's proximity to specified tiers of TOD stops, as provided.
Staff comments: The bill applies to TOD stops that serve heavy rail, commuter rail, light rail, or ferry and depending on the level of transit service applies development standards ranging from 95 feet for Tier 1 (heavy rail) to 45 feet in height for Tier 3 (commuter rail). Densities range from 120 units per acre for Tier 1 to 60 units per acre for Tier 3.
There are no TOD stops defined by this bill that exist in the City of Costa Mesa.
SB 358 (Becker), Vehicular Traffic Impact Neutral This bill originally required local agencies to reduce vehicle mitigation fees for transit-oriented development projects to at least 50% lower than other projects. Cal Cities raised opposition to the bill based on their concerns that this reduction is applied to all projects across the state without thorough local analysis to determine if a project truly generates reduced traffic.
Staff comments: The bill was substantially amended on May 1, 2025, to instead require local agencies make a finding based on substantial evidence that a development located near transit or other specified land uses (grocery store, coffee shop, drugstore, park) “would not generate fewer automobile trips.” Due to the significant amendments staff recommend further analysis.
SB 445 (Wiener), Complete Streets Facilities Support Requires the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to develop and adopt a project intake, evaluation, and encroachment permit review process for complete streets facilities that are sponsored by a local jurisdiction or a transit agency. Expresses the intent of the Legislature to amend this bill with legislation that accelerates and makes more reliable third-party permits and approvals for preconstruction and construction activities on sustainable transportation projects, as specified.
Staff comments: This bill seeks to streamline and accelerate the process for obtaining permits and may assist with improvements to Newport Boulevard and SR-55.
SB 455 (Blakespear), Electric Bicycles Support Revises the definitions of mopeds and motor-driven cycles to create a new classification of low-powered moped. Also, the bill adds labeling and noticing requirements for manufacturers and retailers of electric bicycles (e-bikes).
Staff comments: The bill will clarify what are considered “out of class” e-bikes and allow residents to better determine the difference when purchasing an e-bike.
SB 720 (Ashby), Automated Traffic Enforcement Systems Support Establishes an alternative automated traffic enforcement program for the enforcement of red-light violations. Specifically, the bill creates a civil enforcement mechanism that cannot result in suspension of a license, or a violation point being assessed. In addition, enforcement of the civil fine can be applied to the registered owner of the vehicle rather than the actual driver.
Staff comments: The bill establishes an alternative program that local agencies have the discretion to use. 2 Attachment 3Attachment 3
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